The Blues
by ficklejam
Summary: Erza Scarlet hated all shades of blue... well, not really.  A Collection of Random AU Oneshots
1. The Blues

_Title:_ **The ****Blues**

_Pairing:_ **Erza/Jellal**

_Rating:_ **PG, K**

_Genre:_ **Drama,****Romance**

_Length:_ **One-shot**

_Word Count:_ **497**

_Disclaimer:_ **I never owned Fairy Tail... it belonged to Hiro Mashima-sensei. Please don't sue DX**

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><p>.<p>

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Erza Scarlet hated all shades of blue.

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She hated cyan because it would never go well with any of her armor suits. It didn't even blend well with the shocking redness of her hair. Cyan and scarlet could never go well together, at least, in her vision, and so she decided that that particular shade of blue would never be a part of her wardrobe.

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Azure, she later came to realize, dampens her spirits. She tried to prolong her gaze towards the vast blanket of deep blue hue before her, but it would only soon make her eyes watery. For no particular reason at all, every time she'd look up, she'd found her eyes squinting so that they would not become teary-eyed, those were the battles she considered admitting defeat—it seemed to her that the dome of deep sky blue was the only opponent that could make her cry without even trying. It doesn't matter if it was because of the brightness of the day that was actually doing the trick; she decided that azure above her was the real cause, making her feel trapped on the ground where she stood.

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Erza didn't like cobalt blue nor navy blue, one being toxic in its purest form, the latter one almost appearing as black. It would follow then that she wasn't fond of the hue of the collective liquid she'd see: blue-green of the swamps, Eton blue of some of the lakes in Fiore, Prussian blue of the waves, Alice blue or light-blue hue of the rivers in Magnolia, and the powder blue of water puddles along the streets in her town whenever rain decided to pour on them. To say the least, she was irked in the blueness of liquid, the promise of translucence and coldness in it. It was a fact that she didn't like being transparent. She hid in an armor shell, didn't she?

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Royal blue was a no.

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She couldn't even stand electric blue.

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She found electric indigo's hue, and periwinkle's hue, and cerulean's hue, and glaucous' hue ridiculous.

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But she could also say that last comment right back to herself.

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She couldn't kid and humor herself for too long… because despite all those antagonism towards all shades of blue, there was one particular shade that she held dear.

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It was the baby blue shade of the strands of that man's hair. His baby blue tufts that looked so soft to touch, a reminder of the blue-colored flame she'll always see near the bases of lit candles. The blue flame (that looked easy to extinguish) accompanied the red flame as both gave light in the dark. It was a scene that would always, would constantly, and without fail, rekindle her hope that there will be a way for her and for him to be together.

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The idea of hating shades of blue was just a phase she'll have a long time dealing with.

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Erza Scarlet didn't hate all shades of blue, after all.

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><p><strong>AN: **Ah, actually I'm a newbie in the Fairy Tail fandom. I just finished reading all the chapters up to the latest one this week (last Sunday was when I decided to read Rave Master and since I fell in love with Mashima-sensei's work I instantly read his next work, which is the said manga) ...and what did you know? I really really really ship Jellal/Erza! (and of course, I love Fairy Tail too!) So as, uhm, kind of a commemorative thing to welcome myself in the fandom and in the shipping, I made a drabble-fic for this pairing! ^^ I'm still grasping what Erza's character is and that of Jellal's... so sorry for the OOC in here (although I wrote this in a second-person point of view, and Jellal's appearance was just implied, the heck XD) I hope to receive reviews, please? Thank you in advance! ;3

~ryuuchi


	2. Broken Station

_Title:_ **Broken ****Station**

_Pairing:_ **Erza/Jellal**

_Other Character(s):_ **Lucy, ****Mirajane**

_Rating:_ **R, K+**

_Genre:_ **Drama, ****Romance, ****AU**

_Length:_ **One(long)-shot**

_Summary:_ **Neglect ****Syndrome****—****when ****half ****is ****whole**

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><p>(In Neglect Syndrome, a person loses the ability to give equal attention to both sides of a space. For example, a patient in a rehabilitation hospital may wake up in the morning and proceeds to shave his face – only to be told later that he has only shaved half of his face. A person with this disorder, when drawing a person, will often leave off the arm and leg from one side, and when questioned, will state that it looks perfectly fine to them.)<p>

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><p><em>"<em>_Look __at __my __eyes, __Faye. __One __of __them __is __a __fake __because __I __lost __it __in __an __accident. __Since __then, __I've __been __seeing __the __past __in __one __eye __and __the __present __in __the __other. __So, __I __thought __I __could __only __see __patches __of __reality, __never __the __whole __picture. __I __felt __like __I __was __watching __a __dream __I __could __never __wake __up __from. __Before __I __knew __it, __the __dream __was __over.__"_

Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop

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A slash of sun from around the spaces between the curtains wound Erza's eyes open. She winced and turned her face away from it when her orbs caught the sight of Fiore's urban area. This certainly startled her since it suggested that she had taken a nap (a rather long one at that) right after she had settled a pocket book on her table, when in fact she promised to herself to keep her eyes wide open and acquaint herself with the surroundings outside the train's path, especially since it's been years since she last visited her hometown, Magnolia. Awake, more or less, she seemed surprisingly alert now. Only an hour away from reaching her destination, she abruptly shifted on her seat, making the sofa chair squeak, she then blinked away her last moment of sleepiness with the use of the heels of her palms.

The last sequence of actions she did was almost a déjà vu to her. It was exactly what had happened that led her into meeting Jellal, except for the tiny fact (which turned out to be the one ultimate reason why their paths had crossed) that she wasn't able to erase the sleepiness within her causing for her to forgot to bring with her the term paper she laid on the seat next to her in the train. Erza was still studying, pining for a degree in Humanities at that time, and the term paper was of great importance if she ever wanted to receive her credentials, and of course, she would want that.

She stared on the view outside. From the speed the train was moving, the buildings at the distance gave a flashy half-scenery, as if they're rolling on a film—in Erza's vision though, the right-side was being blocked by say, a person who was near the projector was trying to stand up at that time, casting a shadow on the other half of the film—the overall look however was similar to a hazy blur of grays, concretes and glass panels; this, nonetheless had calmed the erratic beating of her heart from remembering the man who used to be her world, the one who occupied her mind in her yesteryears.

And when her eyes changed its angle to look forward, scanning the view this time inside the train, she saw him, not really him (meaning she didn't see his face at that instant), but his striking blue bundle of hair that only screamed that it was him, that with no doubt it was the only guy with blue hair that she ever loved. She was seated on a forward-facing reserved seat while he was on a backward-facing unassigned seat, on the left side, two seats before her. She whipped her head back in a sudden, thankful that he didn't notice her as he was too busy reading a thick hardbound book; what are the odds upon seeing him after so much time had passed when she simply didn't want for their paths to cross again? What had transpired between them was already a done deal. Was. Done deal. Erza sighed. The whirlwind of emotions has long been gone. She was not unhappy but she can't deny the driving force of the exhilarating sensations she underwent before. All was because of that man… and one could definitely say it was due to her too, because she didn't do anything for such a long time to counter the things that shouldn't have happen.

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_ "Unless you're willing to buy me over for a dinner which I'm more than free to do tonight..." Erza recalled how the guy cheekily offered a way for her to show her gratitude when he found her term paper in one of the tables in the train and had taken the initiative of sending it off to her university. He wasn't aware of the troublesome task she had to endure in tracking him because the only information he left to identify himself was his first name, Jellal. If not for his outlandish blue hair though, she wouldn't even find him. _

_ When she first had heard of it, "Jellal, the guy with blue hair," she can't help but burst into a loud laugh, almost crossing the boundary of snorting. She had to ask the people at the information desk in their campus' main building several times to check if they really knew what they're talking about. After her persistence that led to annoyance among the three people at the room at that time, she was sent out of the office. The name plus the hue of his hair did intrigue her and she was a bit sorry that she couldn't put a face to it._

_ The mystery about the man Jellal, on the other hand, was unraveled to her three weeks after the incident had passed, with the help of Lucy, a classmate and a good friend of hers. As they were having their coffee downtown, Lucy was blissfully narrating a series of events wherein everything had gone horribly wrong due to Natsu's interference in her school paper except when Jellal, a friend if Wendy's, who happened to be the subject Lucy was writing on, and the owner of the bistro they were in, decided to intervene and had set the matter straight._

_ "Wait what?" Erza decided to cut her off._

_ "What is what?" Lucy asked back._

_ "You mentioned a Jellal…" Erza pointed out. She set her coffee down on the table, ignored the strawberry cake in front of her waiting to be sliced by her eager hands, and leaned closer towards the girl in front of her. She folded her hands then as she waited for an epiphany of some sort._

_ "Yes," Lucy said whilst eyebrows were being raised, "I did."_

_ "I have to see him Lucy. I need to," Erza said resolutely, eyes twinkling. She had an intuition and she knew better to follow it than to ignore it. Lucy could only respond with a look on her face that suggested she was thinking that her dear friend had gone mad; she couldn't grasp the reason behind the woman's sudden need to see the man, for all she know, there are hundreds of men named Jellal in whole of Fiore._

_ "But—" Lucy was determined to knock some sense in her._

_ "This Jellal, he has blue hair, right?" Erza calmly stated, but her shoulders looked tense now more than ever._

_ Lucy gasped. Her orbs shut open widely. "Yes! How did you—! Don't tell me he's really—"_

_ Erza dropped her gaze towards her favorite snack. She looked delighted as the corners of her mouth were tugged upwards. "It's settled then."_

_._

_._

_ She was now standing along the entryway of a cozy restaurant in Galuna Island, which Jellal, 22, owns. It had turned out that he was indeed the Good Samaritan, the sole one she was looking for. "Unless you're willing to buy me over for a dinner which I'm more than free to do tonight..." he had said to her after a brief introduction of themselves towards each other and Erza's narration of her intention to treat him in some way that she could. He told it to her jokingly but Erza was pretty persistent; in a one hasty decision, she had dragged him away from his business and into the stretch of golden sand that one of Galuna Island's famous beaches offers._

_ They strolled along the shoreline; each was taking a peek at each other when the other wasn't looking… they seemed like a couple out on their first date._

_ The man, Jellal, put his hands in his pocket and breathed deeply. This was certainly a weird day for him. Problems at his restaurant kept pouring in, problems at his house kept pouring in, and there was something akin to an invisible hurricane within him that he was frantically battling on. And then, out of nowhere, this slender woman walking at his side appeared to him. He wanted to call it as far as an apparition even. She was, to a certain extent, like a breather to him, her intense gaze and intimidating face alone while talking to him gave a familiar sense of comfort, plus her shocking long red hair seemed to give a whole new light in the brightness of the day in the beach, making him feel a familiar warmth. He smiled a wide smile, which Erza had caught in a fleeting moment as she gazed at him again; Jellal genuinely thought that the rain inside him had stopped falling._

_ Dusk was about to set in, ripples of the small waves hit the shore, a large number of people walked to and fro and there blending in the crowd was them. Two strangers walking side by side, a tender connection was being established… although at that time, they were pretty clueless about it._

_ Contrary to what Jellal had expected, Erza led him to a drinking tent._

_ "On second thought," she said as she spun her body towards his direction, "Why don't we have a drink? My term papers being returned to me and even accepted by my professor because of your doing, certainly calls for a celebration right?" Upon looking at his disconcerted face she added, "No? You're not a drinker?"_

_ Jellal shook his head which Erza mistook as him answering a 'No.' Her lips then formed an oval shape and she bobbed her head up and down to contemplate. To this, Jellal even shook his head more vigorously and decided to speak up, "No, no, it's not that. I do drink…" Jellal then raised his hand to his neck while side-eyeing her, "You don't care at all that I'm still a complete stranger to you?"_

_ Erza's eyes widen but only for a moment, it constricted then as her lips curved into a considerate smile, her nose crinkling as she fought off a chuckle that was about to get loose. "I don't mind," she said diffidently as her eyes down casted. It abruptly shot up to his face as she passed the question to him, "Do you?"_

_ The expectant orbs that were deeply focused on Jellal made him unable to say no… in the first place though, his mind was telling him that the beautiful girl in front of him wouldn't take no for an answer, so he just bit his lips and shook his head once more. Erza then lightly patted his shoulder, tiptoeing upon doing so, the guy was taller than her by a considerable height. The action made Jellal flinched on his feet, the contact somewhat burned him. _

_ As Erza turned to her back to glance at Jellal, she noticed that he looked dazed, cheeks in a shade of red, brown eyes were fixed on her… it was right there and then that she realized that she has finally found her man. She was happy to have placed a gentle face to the man, "Jellal, the guy with blue hair."_

_ Time ticked off fast for those who were having fun, but time seemed irrelevant to them two. Taking all their time in the world, exhausting it, not wasting any of it, they spend their time in that small stall talking about almost anything under the sun. Their conversations ran from family, friends, educational backgrounds, interests, dislikes, gossips in the town, they resembled that of old friends who were catching up on each other after what seemed like an eternity that they haven't met again._

_ Her eyes wandered on the table, and among the shot glasses, empty beer bottles, left over foods from the side dishes they ordered, she caught a tiny glistening light. Her heart dropped in an all time low as the ring on his finger next to his pinky glittered beautifully, mocking and glaring at her._

_ "M–Married?" she sounded astounded and she didn't care voicing it out. The guy stared at her alarmingly and apologetically. It was as if the intensity in his dark eyes was channeling different signals to make her feel better, to make her understand, but whatever he was really doing with his glance Erza didn't even want to comprehend further._

_ "…unfortunately," he finally answered. He placed his ring-less hand on Erza's own, gently—or was it desperately?—he pressed his palm to hers._

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_ Erza felt badly drunk the morning after, the hangover that was him was overpowering. She woke up, and suddenly, she's in love (or was she in love with him the first time she saw him?)… It came to her at the time she never thought it would have; she had already decided that she wanted him. It doesn't matter how much it would cost her. She badly just wanted him…_

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_ "Shall the two of us find happiness together?" Jellal proposed._

_ "I'd like that, in fact—" he didn't let her finished talking since he crashed his lips to her then. He was enjoying that feeling of lightheadedness. It has been such a long time since he last felt that kind of sensation. When his eyes dropped to gaze at her, he couldn't help but mirror the exact same thing she was doing… they were grinning while kissing. When someone got that remarkable astonishing feeling and everything happened so suddenly, they would know that the best kinds of relationships come unexpectedly. Jellal and Erza now knew what to make of that. And given the kind of predicament that they have, if possible, the man wanted his conscience clean, but his pleasures dirty, and so was the woman. Nobody had said that what they were venturing into would be easy, they just assured to each other that it would be worth it._

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_"__Relationship __is __only __for __two __people,__" __her __cousin, __Mira, __had __reprimanded __her._

_ "Apparently," she stated in an indignant voice, "Bitches don't know how to count."_

_ Erza knew the pain of losing someone due to third-party and she didn't want to be the cause for someone to lose a lover, but she had already vowed that she's going to put herself first, that she won't be afraid of the unknown possibilities just because the majority of the people thought it was wrong, that her actions would be viewed as socially immoral hindering her to take some risks. She didn't want to regret… and even if she'll have to face the scornful, disgusted, questioning eyes of the society, she'll bravely face them. She just needed Jellal by her side._

_ "You're just going to break your heart," Mira warned her, her doe-like eyes screamed indisputable concern._

_ She gave her a reassuring smile as she said the following words, "I'm all for it."_

_ Mira enclosed her in a tight hug. Although Erza said those words with conviction, she felt her whole body trembled as she wrapped her lean arms around her dear cousin._

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"_You __think __I'll __always __be __there __to __follow __you __around, __to __make __sure __you __are__satisfied __How __would __you __ever __feel __contented __when __you__'__re __continually __looking __for __its __lack?__"_

_It __sounded __obscure __to __outsiders, __but __to __Erza __and J__ellal, __those __were __words __that __were __completely __challenging __what __they __had __between __the __two __of __them __as __of __the __moment. __Fights __were __foreseeable __after __all._

_ Erza, who recently turned 21, has finished her studies; she received her diploma and was doing great as a hired researcher in her academe. It was several months after she and Jellal met for the first time, five months after she had moved to an apartment a few blocks from Galuna Beach where Jellal spent his nights during weekends (in which he had the excuse to say to his wife that he won't be able to go home because customers usually flocked their bistro from dusk to morn)._

_ "I can't help it," she confessed. "But you know I do understand our circumstance right?" Erza's eyes were fixed on Jellal's face. Her forlorn and deep longing was evident on her cheeks, on the breadth of her forehead, on the corners of her mouth. "I just missed you. I miss you every day. I miss you every single time of the day," she murmured as she went in for a hug._

_ Jellal welcomed her in his widely opened arms and he cradled her closer to him. "You know what it's like for me to downgrade all of these feelings? I treat it like it's a routine," he said to her, arms gripping her waist tightly, "I like you on a Monday," he mumbled after he planted a gentle kiss on her palm, "Fall for you on Tuesday," he mumbled again, this time, after nibbling with his lips Erza's shoulder, which earned him the sound of her mirth and giggles. "On Wednesday I knew already that I love you," he whispered to her ear. "I may be turned off at you on a Thursday or a Friday and over for the weekends, but come Monday, I fall for you again." _

_ She cocked an eyebrow. "What is that?" and she gave him a sly smile that almost looked like a threat._

_ "It's a mechanism device, silly," Jellal quipped. "Like I said, downgrading all these bottomless feelings for you so I won't drown in them. That's how I cope in missing you."_

_ Erza tried hard not to pout, "You don't sound cute at all, so stop trying."_

_ "Ah, really?" Jellal laughed. "Alright, you win… I was just testing if words could take away your anxiousness."_

_ Erza gazed at him again. "We just have to continue being close like this, for the rest of the day so that I could last another week without you."_

_ Jellal nodded several times as he raked his fingers through Erza's flaming scarlet hair. The man's new favorite place in the world was being buried in Erza's sheets, tangled up with her, and that he did. His new favorite word was his own name that rolled off the woman's lips like a whisper, only to be accompanied by her melodious-tinkling-bell kind of laughter at the end._

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As the train moved on, a panorama of green can be seen outside, and anytime soon, Magnolia would welcome Erza back again. The woman wished she could've stop time. She would like to look at Jellal's form, sitting near the window panel two seats before her, a little more. His current position, book held tightly by those warm hand of his, and face that was serious, brought a sad nostalgia within her and she wished that that moment could last a little longer. Back then, she had thought that the hardest part about waiting was about not knowing whether she's waiting for anything at all. She thought she could do it… but she realized that she didn't have such confidence to wait forever for something so uncertain. The thing she couldn't change end up changing her instead… which made her drift away from him... or was it the other way around? At the end of the day, did she really want to be alone, to be away from him? Yes. No. Yes and No? She couldn't seem to answer just yet. She couldn't seem to bring herself to answer it just yet no matter how much time flew by. It was the biggest mystery within her that of course, she alone, would like to answer, Erza is a 28-year-old woman now but unlike before, she couldn't treat time as something irrelevant. She then leaned on the backrest and let the memories flashed inside her head once more.

After a couple more minutes, Erza could finally see the harbor signifying that Magnolia station was near and so she readied herself. She put the pocket novel that was left unread back inside her travel bag. When her eyes fluttered upwards as she remembered her suitcase placed in the overhead compartment, she felt something weird at her right side.

"Erza," the voice was coming from a man. It was eerily familiar although the tone dropped a few more down the notch; time had indeed passed so greatly. The voice came from him. So another crossing was inevitable… there goes her wishful thinking. Then again, she knew it must have been her doing, she was the first one who had seen him, she could've hid herself from him, could've moved to another place but she didn't.

Erza remained firm on her seat; sadly she couldn't see anything past her left-peripheral vision.

"Erza…" his voice was now groggy. Just the sound of it wound something inside her… Jellal was neither here nor there. Erza looked on her reflection on the window pane, focusing on her crack-torn lips and disheveled hair, at this critical time, her random self just have to check up her appearance. She was conscious in everything about her now to say the least… it was Jellal who had said to her that she was like an open book but has still managed to retain all the mysteries a book should have to be entertaining to the reader….

Jellal noticed her unevenly application of her favorite cherry lip balm and her kempt hair that was only at her left-side. He knew about the accident. He had heard of it, and he couldn't help but feel guilty knowing that he has been the sole reason why she was in that kind of state. It was a nightfall when Erza had left him. When the accident happened, Erza was only depressed for a week. The next day, she was bustling, trying new things that her new state had to offer; she finally accepted her condition with optimism, besides, she had said to herself, it was time for a payback. She decided to be selfish the first time, she really thought she'd last a long time playing that role, but it was high time to give up her own happiness just to rescue someone else's burden.

The man finally stepped towards where Erza could see him. The woman saw Jellal's eyes widen and panicked a bit when she finally gazed at him and he wouldn't say anything, in which she would've wished he could've said something more… yet he really didn't.

"I guess… I was given the opportunity to finally say this word right?" His right eye shed a tear then but all Erza could see was the scar under his left eye, the one she love tracing with her fingers; the woman took her suitcase out of the overhead compartment and settled it on top of the table, she then gazed at his left eye as it closed in and continued to talk despite the hardship in it because she was feeling that there was something in her throat… in Erza's hoarse voice, in an almost choking manner she managed to blurt out, "Goodbye."

They smiled afterwards, towards each other and each to their own selves, her smile was untroubled while his gave off a bit of an awkward feeling, he never wanted to but he was mirroring her action again, and at this instance, he was preventing the tears on his eyes from falling even further; their shoulders had brushed a little as Erza passed by.

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One had stepped off the train and the other one continued to rode on.

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><p><strong>AN:** This is an entry in a challenge (Psychological Disorders Drabble Challenge) in YGL that I decided to post in here. This is how the challenge works: The drabble should be centered around the relationship between two characters when one – or both – of them has a psychological disorder. It does not necessarily have to be a romantic relationship. Originally, I wrote it for a random Kpop Idols pair that I got, but the feedback was low so I decided to recycle the story and made it fit for Erza/Jellal and the Fairy Tail fandom. I hope it was okay though. Again, sorry if there's any OOC in here. I'm trying really hard to get this pair in character. D:

I would like to think that I managed to put a parallelism between the quote I used from the Cowboy Bebop series (I freakin' love that Anime!) and the Neglect Syndrome to which I'm assigned to do and that it was evident in the story... if not... well then, please break it to me gently. LOL XD Hit the comments below and let me know what you guys think of this please /bows her head to the ground—not really, but you got the picture! ^^ Thanks guys! ^^

~ryuuchi


	3. Harlequin

_Title:_ **Harlequin (HARLEY QUINN)**

_Pairing:_ **Erza/Jellal**

_Rating:_ **R, K+**

_Genre:_ **Horror/Supernatural, AU**

_Length:_ **Oneshot/Drabble**

_Summary:_ **Nap time was especially rough, because in his dreams he was the 'hunted one,' he was the one screaming for help with eyes wide and filled with horror. He was the one being killed.**

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><p><strong>.<strong>

**.**

**.**

This crack of dawn he had to make an early run to the store-opened-for-24/7 to pick up some cheap cigarettes and cheap alcohol. As he drove down the road, he noticed that there were absolutely no other cars to be seen; ahead of him, there was a rather creepy wall of fog. Rain began to gently patter on his windshield and gradually turned into a torrential downpour in just a matter of seconds, to make matters worse, the downpour was so hard that he could hardly see where he was heading. This made him uneasy. His driving slowed to a mere crawl then. He was crawling down the road, so as not to run into anything, when he saw a young woman, maybe in her late teens or early twenties, standing still beside a lamppost, with no umbrella to shield herself from getting wet. Simply put, devoid of any kind of shelter from the rain. _What is she doing out so early in this storm all by herself? _His forehead creased as he recognized the lone figure already soaked. _Erza._ The mechanical devices in his head churned and clicked as it worked its way to remind him of who the person was with that given name. Erza—pretty, young, smart—she was the infamous woman in her Trigonometry class who caused most of the trouble that nobody ever seemed to know what, and could point out, and just as far as the rumors would stretch. Not that he cared, mind you. He can only sympathize with his fool classmates as they firmly believed that she was brewing trouble, the only feeble proof they would hang themselves into just to explain her aloofness and awkwardness in the crowd. Plus, as his mind already stated, she was a beauty, and maybe those rumors sprouted from the guys she had rejected dating with? Nonetheless, she looked cold. He decided to pull over to where Erza was to see if he can help her.

"Hey," he said as he rolled down the window at his left side.

"J–Jellal?" she seemed to be awaken from a stupor when he called out to her.

That one surprised him. He never knew that the 'Ice Queen,' as she was dubbed by their classmates, knew him. "You looked like you could use some shelter. Get in the car," he offered as a silent 'click' wound its way to their ears, suggesting that the lock in the front passenger seat was already unlocked for her.

Erza seemed to fidget as she politely decline to Jellal, "But… but I'm wet, very much soaked actually."

"I can see that," said Jellal with eyebrows arched. "It can't be helped," he beckoned her as he moved from his seat to push open the door.

Erza gnashed her teeth from the cold and slightly bowed her head to him as she finally accepted his invitation to get inside his car. She peeled her drenched sweater that was very much sticking to her skin off of her and proceeded to strip—wait what?

Jellal's eyes fluttered widely, he moved further ahead and snaked an alarming arm around her hands. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting out of my wet clothes," she answered him with the most innocent eyes he had ever seen.

Jellal felt like face-palming, for someone as intelligent as her, she could be dangerously ignorant at times. Why must she state the obvious?

"But—"

She cut him off with a quaint smile, one that petrified him for a bit, because the 'Ice Queen' never smiled so openly. "You don't want the interior of your car to be ruined because I get in there all wet, right? Plus, I could see a trench coat at the back seat, you won't mind lending that to me for a while, no? And well, I'd be very much delighted if you could close your eyes while I strip off here and get changed into your clothes once I'm inside, okay?"

Jellal answered her with rushed shakings of his head—up, down and sideward, all the while keeping his eyes closed and being as still as a portrait hanged on the wall. He could only listen to the pitter-patter of the rain on his car's hood, Erza's movements and the 'thuds' of the clothes being thrown on the ground. He heard then the closing of the front passenger's door and the rustling of a huge garment over bare skin—was he really that keen in hearing or was he just ingeniously imaginative? His face contorted into a frown, he didn't like what that thought would imply to his self, at that instant he heard someone laughing. His eyes involuntarily moved to open themselves and see if his companion, his only companion in that deserted road was indeed laughing at him. The 'Ice Queen' was full of surprises for him today. Who would've thought she could laugh like that?

"Well?" he said, his mind a bit confused.

"It's been a while since I last saw that frown of yours," she said, immediately wiping traces of her 'merry self' on her gorgeous innocent-looking face to replace it with her usual serious façade.

"You just transferred here five days ago…" he trailed off. She spoke as if she knew him from such a long time ago. And well, he could appear bored with his life, but he was never a frown-person to begin with, in fact, he rarely does that kind of reaction to his facial features. What was she talking about?

"It's time…" she said in a deadpan manner while fastening Jellal's huge trench coat over her thin frame.

"Huh?"

"It's time you remember, I can't stand being this lonely you know…" Leaving no room for Jellal to react, Erza hastily placed her palm on Jellal's forehead. Another surprise, he never knew the woman could move in such agility. _What was she talking about, really? Why is she speaking in a confusing manner? Why—_and his vision went black.

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Nap time was especially rough, because in his dreams he was the 'hunted one,' he was the one screaming for help with eyes wide and filled with horror. He was the one being killed. By the time he opened his eyes once more, the sky was bright and the storm clouds were already dispersing.

He was currently seated on the passenger seat; he looked at his right side and saw Erza on the driver's seat, maneuvering the car back to his cabin near the lake. He gazed at the back seat and saw four packs of Marlboro lights, two bottles of Bourbon whiskey, and four containers of ready-to-microwave pasta meal.

"H–How long did you look for me?"

With eyes glued on the road she answered, "A century, six months and eighteen days."

He stared at her with tender, a glint of new knowledge in his eyes. "It must have been hard on you. I'm sorry… I'm sorry I was selfish and—" loss for words, he reached out to her and buried his head on her neck.

Erza gave out a chuckle. "I cope because I knew this day would eventually come. The years that had passed were needed to be able to cleanse you from your evil soul… and I'm just glad to have you back," she said softly as she planted a short kiss on top of Jellal's head. "You remember your promise, don't you?"

Erza—beauty not ephemeral, forever-young, and wise due to her being part of the world since time immemorial—was a black-faced emissary of the devil; she roamed the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to send them to Hell. One of the Harlequins who fell in love with a condemned soul….

"Yes," Jellal told her with a smile. "I'm here to stay."

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><p><strong>AN:** YAY! Another drabble/oneshot finally posted! ...even though this is one month late. I was originally going to post this on the eve of Halloween but never had the time to finish it for the occassion 'cause I got busy at that time D: But anyway, since I'm in a Christmas break, I rushed to finish this story. *Sigh* I want to be showered with enough time for writing fics but my school projects are currently my hindrances. I ask for your understanding dear readers! And oh, if you got confused with this, then feel free to comment your confusions. I'll gladly answer them! ^^ And oh, this story, I recycled it from one Kpop fic I did... because when I'm writing it for another couple, it turned out completely fitting for Erza and Jellal's situation, don't you guys think? And this is in AU, so... but I dunno, is recycling my other stories to fit this couple necessary a bad thing? I hope not... although this may be the last time I'll be doing it since I have new ideas for this couple! ^^ And for the Anon that left a comment the last time, thank you too! I've been considering it, really, but writing an ongoing fic is so much hassle for me right now 'cause I'm really busy with Uni-life. I'm sorry OTL

ANYWAY. Thanks to you guys favoriting this and putting it in your Alerts-list. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Until my next Update!

~ryuuchi


	4. Denouement

_Title:_ **Denouement - The resolution of a mystery**

_Pairing:_ **Erza/Jellal**

_Rating:_ **R**

_Genre:_ **Romance, Fluff**

_Length:_ **One-shot**

_Summary:_ **There are an infinite number of universes existing side by side and through which our consciousnesses constantly pass. In these universes, all possibilities exist. You are alive in some, long dead in others, and never existed in still others. Many of our "ghosts" could indeed be visions of people going about their business in a parallel universe or another time - or both. [PAUL F. ENO, Faces at the Window]**

_Word Count:_ **2, 229**

_Disclaimer:_** **I never owned Fairy Tail... it belonged to Hiro Mashima-sensei. Please don't sue DX I also don't own some of Jellal's and Erza's lines here, you'll see why as you read on~** **

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><p>.<p>

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>Erza turned, and she caught sight of the painting that hung above the chaise longue at the center of the wallpapered room. She eyed the painting with a little suspicion and curiosity—she had always been entranced with it. She found herself staring at it sometimes, and would glance at the clock to realize an hour had gone by without her noticing. The painting had already been there when she and Lucy had moved in six months ago into this pretty Victorian-styled apartment, starting out their lives afresh in Magnolia where they both intended to seek their fortunes out. She moved towards it now, wondering for the umpteenth time why the previous owner of such painting would ever leave it behind. It was very charming, the painting of a lone figure bent on his knees on the sand, his silhouette looked as if he was caressing the wind at the setting of the sun.<p>

She didn't want to look at the painting, but sometimes it seemed as if she couldn't help it, there was just something in it that made her barely peel herself away from. Sometimes, she felt like she could stare at that painting forever. As she returned back into reality, she had almost had the feeling that she was being drawn into the painting itself, as if she could climb through the frame and find herself in that unfamiliar place and provide the lonely silhouette of a man some hanged before her was so striking, beautiful, strange, vast, ethereal, and so alive that she sometimes found herself oddly desperate to enter the other side of the canvas, to be inside the painting. But of course, Reason would find its way back inside her pretty little head and she'd say to herself that she was being silly again.

Oh, she had gone silly alright… ever since he disappeared from her—Jellal, her fiancée, has taken what's left of her sanity that day he was stationed at the borders of Caelum to fight off the rebels renouncing Fiore's monarchy. She had made wishes to eyelashes, wishbones, dandelions, pennies, shooting stars, 11:11, and even birthday candles then, as her last resorts, hoping for her fiancée to be safe on the battlegrounds, but to no avail, his letters had stopped coming… and even in the end, he did not come back to her side.

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"It is not your fault," Lucy had said countless times it could even be considered a cliché. "You handled things with the dignity of a lady of your stature should for the past two years, and for Jellal's sake too. And I don't think he'd ever chastise you for moving on," she further comforted.

_Do you really think like that Lucy? _Erza's eyes seemed to be saying that as she gazed towards her friend sitting beside her, they were in front of the fireplace; basking in the warmth the fires have been providing them and their cozy room all the while their town has been in the middle of a hail storm for almost a week then.

"Sometimes I wonder where he had gone off to…" Erza mumbled as she reached for the fire tongs and tended to the charcoals. "Hey Lucy, do you know where in the world could he be?"

The blonde was stunned for a short while. She bit her lips from her childhood friend's uncomfortable query, reminding her of a young Erza who was frustrated and lost when they both decided to enter the maze their school had built for their festival. Finally, Erza was denied an answer as Lucy looked at her forlornly, bowed down her head and kept her mouth shut.

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Erza trailed the curves of a lady model in a jeans advertisement page in one of the famous art magazines in the whole of Fiore, as she splashed various acrylic paints over it. She mixed red with blue, green with violet and yellow with orange with her slender fingers, applying the newly created hue to the glossy paper. Just as how Jellal did the first time they met, only that time, she was the one posing as the model and Jellal was the artist turning her into a living art.

Mirajane, her and Lucy's college friend, was the one who introduced him to her as they were both classmates in the Art department. She had recommended Erza to Jellal since Jellal was looking for a redhead model who's willing to strip (for solely art and academic purposes, mind you) for his thesis in exchange for a week's living expenses. It was a sweet deal for Erza, considering she was paying a lot of things in her young age—her tuition and rental fees including the electricity and water bills plus the huge debt that was left in her name by her no good brother. And stripping? She could hardly care… well, as long as everything's decent, she can't help not to mind it.

As she applied different colors on the magazine canvas, Erza could see as plain as day how she and Jellal's first meeting worked out. Jellal had been more flustered than she was, his cheeks had always been in a bloody shade of red in great contrast to his outrageously blue hair, though bearing in mind that she was the one doing the stripping and not him. Jerky, clumsy, but all shy smiles were Jellal….

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"I–Is this arrangement o–okay for you?" Jellal asked organizing the newspapers and ragged clothes beneath Erza's half naked body.

Erza was lying down on what seemed to be a huge canvas with newspapers and work clothes underneath her. She and Jellal were doing a test run before proceeding to the actual course of action so there was still no need for her to take off her clothes. Her red hair was twisted and turned according to Jellal's liking, while her very pose has nothing sensual in it. It almost struck her as odd. What did this weird blue-haired man intends to do? She has no idea in the slightest how to appreciate Art because she hasn't yet taken up the subject. She's still a freshman, while this Jellal's about to graduate this year, if he managed to finish and defend his thesis successfully, that is.

Then out of the blue, as if Jellal could see the confusion in Erza's eyes, while he was busy mixing colors, he started explaining by trying to clarify the relationship between words and what people see, as a sort of conversation with her. He pointed as some famous art critic had pointed out in the past that seeing and recognition came before words.

"It is seeing that establishes our place in the world E–Erza, uh, you don't mind me calling you that, no?"

Erza shook her head to him as little as possible, mindful not to destroy her pose.

Jellal smiled again. "Right… So it is seeing that establishes our place in the world, but we use words to explain this world. Despite this, John Berger argues there is always a distinction between what we see and what we know. The example he gives is that of us seeing the sun revolving around the earth but knowing the opposite. Having established that we see first and then use words to explain the world, example being what we know, he then goes on to say what we know or believe affects the way we see things. This makes it a dynamic relationship; it may start with seeing and recognition, but develops into a system in which our past experience or knowledge changes the way we see things. Did I make myself clear?"

Again, Erza nodded. "What you mean… for example, today we would see fire differently from people in the Middle Ages who believed in the physical reality of hell. That the act of seeing is active… that it is an act of choice?" she added, supporting her understanding; while she hasn't taken up her Art Appreciation class yet, there's no denying she was a smart girl to begin with.

Jellal seemed to be impressed as his stare lingered after her for quite a while. "We see what we look at and so relate to it. We also become aware that we can be seen, and so are aware we are part of the visible world. This results in the understanding that others may see things differently. This two-way nature of vision comes before dialogue."

"So what you're trying to accomplish in your thesis is the Ways of Seeing?"

"Quite so," Jellal admitted sheepishly. "But there's more to it than that…"

Erza jerked her head in interest.

Jellal chuckled in understanding and he moved to her side, he then hovered over her so that they could see each other eye to eye.

"In 'Way's of Seeing' by John Berger, there is this whole chapter on the female gaze which discusses how women have been objectified in society and through art, not only by men but by themselves, discussing how women see themselves through the eyes of a man in order to present themselves. This idea that we are dressed with nudity is incredibly interesting when it comes to using the naked female form in my own work. I am of course dressing the body in projections but the body as a canvas itself is also dressed in how it is presented. Nakedness suggests bareness, pure body. Nudity is a chosen state…" Jellal then breathed deeply, his eyes were full of seriousness and enthusiasm Erza felt almost jealous because it was clear that he was enjoying what he was doing. "And I wanted to liberate women from social mores with regard to nudity."

"To liberate women?" Erza repeated.

The blue-haired man, who was turning more mad and pure at the same time as he continued to talk, nodded himself to Erza. "Today there is still a constant debate about the legitimacy of body painting as an art form… but despite it, I still want it to utilize as a tool for women to interiorize and contain their identity…"

Seeing Erza was about to retaliate with a question he beat her out by cutting in, "Why don't I lend you the book that discusses it? I can tell you're very much interested in the topic I'm working on."

Before she could even stop herself, Erza burst out with a playful remark, "You can? How so?"

"Well… it is true that eyes are a window to one's own soul…"

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As Erza sprawled on the floor, her lips curved into a wry smile, reading some glossy art magazines as well as turning them into some work of art, she became aware that she was staring again at the painting. It seemed to draw her eyes to it, no matter where she was in the room. The painting had always, in a way bothered her now, for over the last few weeks it had begun to become a bit of an obsession to her more than leisure to stare at it. She approached the painting then, feeling an odd sensation—similar to lightheadedness and a couple of warm fluttery feeling she hadn't felt for quite some time—that feeling had been reserved and caused by Jellal only, Erza noted. As she moved to touch the painting, she felt her vision began to blur. Suddenly, there was temporary darkness, then a hue of gold and orange and yellow and red collided into her eyes, reminding her of the painting's background colors for the sunset, then she fainted.

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"Erza?" the blonde roommate of our protagonist bobbed her head inside the room. "I'm back! I brought with me a huge strawberry cake! Where art thou mine friend?" Lucy muttered aloud, bubbly and skipping happily inside the room while looking for Erza. She noted the scattered art materials around the living room and felt a sudden chill run down her spine. Erza hadn't touched any art materials for two years ever since Jellal vanished… "Erza…?"

It was then that Lucy decided to go out and ask for Natsu's help to look for their dear friend because there's a bad feeling in her gut that wouldn't just go away. But before Lucy left, she accidentally glanced at the canvas above the white chaise longue. No sooner had she turned her head away, she could have avowed that she saw something in the painting change. She couldn't identify what it was; rather, it seemed like a sudden change in consciousness, flashing before her but gone the second after. She was a bit baffled by this. Lucy then shuddered, despite the warmth of the day. There was definitely something about that picture that made her uneasy. Her light brown eyes searched for it but she couldn't tell what exactly it was. In her unnamable fear, she hastily dropped the box of strawberry cake on the center table and hurryingly walked out of their lovely Victorian-styled apartment.

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Back inside the house, the newest occupant of the painting lifted her head in outmost joy, as a smile began to etch on her inclined canvas head, hand and lips entwined on the not anymore lone silhouette of a man on the painting… Now, it was a clear painting of two lovers embracing and caressing each other, kneeling on the center of a battlefield, at the setting of the sun.

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><p><strong>AN: ** I'm back~! Yay! Here comes Summer Vacation for me! But alas, I have an OJT this Summer. Oh bummer! Anyway, just want to let y'all know I'm still alive and kicking and I'm not abandoning this collection of oneshots just yet! ^^ Thanks as always for people putting this on their Alerts and Fave Stroy list. THANK YOU SO MUCH DEARIES. ^3^ oh, I'm open to critiques and whatnot, maybe even story ideas and prompts you want for me to write with regard to this pair, come and write me some on that lovely review button then, heh~~ (Oh, how sleazy of me, pardon this imbecile writer OTL)

(1) http:/ v5. books. elsevier .com / bookscat /samples /9780240516523/9780240516523. PDF -this link provided me some good insights about Nude vs. Naked and where I got most of Jellal's lines

(2) http:/ kailenamusic. wordpress. com/ 2012/ 01 /11 / naked-vs-nude / -just another source


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